I found these two websites one of which had a recipe for milk replacer and the other for colostrum obviously you would want moms or another dams milk and colostrum, but if that was not a choice are these a good idea compared to store bought from somewhere like TSC or my local feed store, TSC has one from DuMor but it seems a little expensive compared to a homemade recipe. And also if i did use store bought replacer can i use this if they were out of stock or something for a fast switch or do you think it would upset there tummies.
http://abundancefarms.com/goat-milk-replacer-recipe/
http://www.tosingwithgoats.com/2013/04/homemade-colostrum-recipe.html
Any input would be helpful. Thank You in advance.
Replies
I was wondering about the egg... thank you for the ideas about farm vs store! That makes sense now!!
I don't really see the point in homemade milk replacer. If a kid can't nurse, or a doe won't let a kid nurse, I milk the doe and give the colostrum or milk to the kid. I never say never, but it's pretty close to impossible that a doe would drop dead the second a kid is born, so even if a doe is in really bad shape, you could still milk her and give her colostrum to the kid.
There is absolutely nothing that will take the place of real colostrum because it has antibodies in it that were created by the mother, so it provides immunologic protection to the kid that nothing else can. Although some colostrum recipes include raw egg, I've heard from holistic health practitioners that it really only works if it is from chickens on your farm because they have antibodies to "bugs" on your farm. A raw "factory farm" egg could kill a kid because it's not uncommon for them to have salmonella, so I would absolutely NOT give a raw store-bought egg to a kid.
What do you think would be better for the kid?
The cost of store-bought cow milk and store-bought goat milk replacer are almost identical. I've used both and didn't see a difference in results.
I would NOT consume store-bought buttermilk myself, and I certainly wouldn't give it to a kid, unless you read the ingredients, and it is nothing more than milk and cultures. The stuff they call buttermilk in the store is usually just a concoction of milk and unpronouncable chemicals to make it taste like buttermilk.
We keep frozen colostrum in our deep freezer for emergencies, and I've used colostrum that was a couple years old with good results. To keep our colostrum supply built up, basically the first doe to give birth every January gets the honor of being milked out when her kids are 24 hours old, and I freeze that colostrum. I will also milk out any doe that has only a single kid after about 12 hours and freeze her colostrum. And if a doe looks uncomfortably full after 24 hours, she gets milked out.
I have only ever given whole store bought cow's milk for the kid I had to bottle feed. IDK much more than that, other than to say, they both look pretty easy!